Internal-combustion engine.



Y 1.0. DITTBRENNER.

INTERNAL comsusnow ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26. 1917- Patented Apr. 29

JOHN C. DITI'BRENNER, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

IIWI'EALCOMBUSTIOIW ENGINE.

aaoaoao.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

Applicationfiled December as, 1917. Serial no. aoaear.

pendent of, or auxiliary to, the piston suction and expulsion.

To the foregoing end, I have adapted my invention to a valve of'the rotary type inasmuch as I thereby avail myself of the advantages of such construction over the practically universal type of puppet valve mech- .anism incident to the simplification of the mechanism and accessibility of parts elimination of expense, noise and necessity for nicety of adjustment, etc., but it is to be .understood that the invention is capable of other adaptations and I do not therefore desire to be confined to the specific embodiment hereinafter set forth.

In carrying out the invention, I employ a valve for controlling the admission and expulsion of the gases and means associated therewith tending to produce a vacuum, the valve combining with its functions, those of the usual manifold, and the means just referred-to varying with the operation of the engine.

It is also comprehended as a feature of these improvements to provide a suitable circulation system by means of which the valve means are maintained at temperatures which materially assist in the proper functioning of the motor.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts all as hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying draw-- ings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a. vertical sectional view of a motor having my particular invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the plaane indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; an

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Throughout the following detail description, and on the several figures of the drawmgs, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

The invention which forms the subject matter of this application is described as applied to a multi-cylinder explosive engine and referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the cylinder casting and 2 the pistons operable in the respective cylinders. To best fulfil the requirements, I employ two cylindrical or sleeve valves 3 and 4:, these elements constituting broadly the gas controlling means. These sleeves extend longitudinally the entire length of the cylinder casting, the sleeve 3 constituting the intake and the sleeve 4 the exhaust for the-motor. The sleeves are anchored at their forward ends by the annular bearing 5 and are driven by the silent chain 6, rotating in a bath of oil supplied by suitable pumping means (not shown) through the oil ducts 7 extending longitudinally over the sleeves. There is provided, of course, sufiicient'clearance be- -tween the sleeves and the cylinder walls to reduce friction to a minimum and yet be compression tight. The intake sleeve is open at its rear end where it receives, preferably direct from the carbureter diagrammatically indicated at 8; the fuel gases which are conveyed to the respective cylinders, passing through the outlet ports 9 suitably arranged to function in the proper cycle of operation of the motor. By such arrangement it is apparent that the sleeve 3 combines in one instrumentality the valve and manifold functions usually separate and distinct in the ordinary explosive engine of the pres ent day.

The special feature of this valve sleeve is the spiral fin or rib 10 which projects from the inner periphery of the sleeve and terminates short of the longitudinal axis thereof, thus leaving a free path for movement of the incoming gases through the intake to the several outlets establishing communication with the cylinder ports. The spiral placement of any two or more cylinders,

the object of which will occur to those skilled in this art, since there is thus provided an equalization of the gas to all cylinders.

The exhaust sleeve 4 is similar in all respects to the intake, the equivalent parts being indicated by the same reference characters, excepting only in respect to the spiral fin which is so arranged in the exhaust sleeve as to assist in expelling the burnt ses.

As indicated at 11 in Fig. 3, these sleeves are water jacketed and the formation is such that the heat-which is taken from the walls of the exhaust valve chamber and the explosion chamber tends to increase the efficiency of theexplosive mixture, while the cooling effect as the water passes over the intakechamber is in turn advantageously utilized to reduce the tenmerature of the exhaust.

Briefly stated, the gases from the carbureter'8 are directly introduced into the intake sleeve and supplied therefrom to the engine cylinders not only by reason of the vacuum produced by the suction of the pistons but owing to the impelling action of the spiral fin and the tendency of the same to produce vacuum when the valve is rotated, so that the filling of the cylinders is entirely independent of the suction of the pistons though it is true that the one is supplemental to the other. By such arrangement the cylinders are filled to a one hundred per cent. capacity, whereas hitherto in those types of engines dependent upon the piston suction the cylinder is filled to only about sixty-five or seventy-five per cent. of its capacity. On the exhausting side the burnt gases are completely expelled in the same efiicient manner under the influence of the spiral fin, something which has heretofore been impracticable because of the fact that the piston obviously does not make a complete stroke the full length of the cylinder. It maybe stated, furthermore, by way of comparison that in the ordinary type of internal combustion engine 'the maximum vacuum effect is obtained at about 16( )0 or 1800 revolutions, and from this point on the tendency is for the vacuum to be decreased. Therefore, while a greater number of revolutions may be obtained there is a constantly decreasing power development and this has given rise to the emcrease ofrevolutions and practically abolishpin ployment by some manufacturers of forced feeds, but with little or no success. In the construction disclosed herein, however, the faster the engine is operated the greater the impelling action of the fins or the greater the vacuum tendency and therefore the greater the amount of gas injected into and expelled from the engine, thus increasing the power at a definite ratio with the ining the maximum efficiency limit above referred to as thedefectin the known motor constructions of today.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In an internal explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a movable gas controlling member open atone end to receive for distribution a supply of gas and having a port establishing communication with the cylinder, and gas impelling means extending throughout the length of the member and projecting interiorly partially across the same only so asto leave an uninterrupted passage for the gas from end to end of said member.

2. In an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a hollow movable gas controlling member communicating with the explosive chamber of the cylinder, and rotary gas impelling means carried by and projecting partially into the interior'of the member in such manner as to leave a free path for the gas through said member.

3. In an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a hollow rotatable gas controlling member having an inlet and an outlet, and gas impelling means projecting from the member operable therewith and spaced from the longitudinal axis thereof to provide an uninterrupted axial gas passage.

' 4. In an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a rotatable sleeve for controlling the supply of gas to the cylinder, said sleeve having a continuous spiral fin projecting from the inner periphery thereof and constituting gas impelling means.

5. In an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a rotary valve sleeve having an inlet and an outlet, and a continuous spiral rojecting inwardly from the inner perip cry of the sleeve and terminating short of the axis thereof to provide an uninterrupted axial passage whereby to leave a free path for movement of gases therethrough.

6. In an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a rotary hollow gas conveying member having an inlet and an outlet port 1 0 communicating with the explosive chamber, and a second rotary member having an inlet port from the chamber aforesaid and a discharge port, and gas impelling means in each of said members for positively inducing and expelling the gases therethrough, respectively.

7. In an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of rotary valve sleeves each having a communicating port for the explosive chamber of the cylinder, means common to said sleeves for actuating same, gas inspirating means in one of said sleeves and gas expelling means in the other sleeve whereby to positively induce and expel the gases .to and from the chamber.

8. lln an explosive engine, the combination with a cylinder and piston operable therein, of a rotary intake valve sleeve for controlling the supply of gas to the engine cylinder, and a rotary exhaust valve sleeve having gas imp'elling means therein for scavenging the cylinder.

9. In an explosive engine, the combination with a. cylinder and a piston operable therein, spaced rotary valve sleeves for controlling the admission to and exhaust of the ter jacket extending around each valve and over the explosivechamber of the cylinders whereby the heat of the exhaust valve and explosive chamber is transferred toth-e intake valve.

In testimony whereof I ai fix my signature.

JQHN C. DITTBRENNER. 

